Is it recommended to create a custom template system in PHP instead of using existing ones like Smarty? What are the potential benefits and drawbacks of doing so?

It is not recommended to create a custom template system in PHP instead of using existing ones like Smarty. Existing template systems like Smarty have been thoroughly tested, optimized, and offer a wide range of features that can save time and effort in development. Creating a custom template system from scratch can be time-consuming, error-prone, and may lack the robustness and flexibility of established solutions. Using existing template system like Smarty: ``` require_once('smarty/Smarty.class.php'); $smarty = new Smarty; $smarty->template_dir = 'templates'; $smarty->compile_dir = 'templates_c'; $smarty->cache_dir = 'cache'; $smarty->config_dir = 'configs'; $smarty->assign('name', 'John Doe'); $smarty->display('index.tpl'); ```